Question: Coach what do you think are the best strength exercises to get optimally fit?

Well, I just recently got this email question from a reader and strength student on the blog. I’ve written about this before, but I thought it was worth covering here again. I suppose if you held a gun to my head and forced me to pick the best exercises to build optimal fitness I would go with this list.

Are you competitive in martial arts, or MMA and looking for a way to build more athleticism?

Do you have an interest in speeding up your performance for your martial arts practice?

Are you looking to build strength to improve your strikes and/or grappling skills?

Are you interested in building more athletic strength to enhance your coordination and reaction time?

Whether you’re a martial arts practitioner, or looking to get seriously competitive in MMA you need to hone a good portion of your strength exercises to develop your athleticism. Consequently, without the added development of coordination and speed you may end up being somebody’s punching, or kicking bag during a tough sparring session. So today I’m going to provide you with some strength exercises to make your striking and grappling skills much tougher for your opponent.

Are you incorporating more athletic based drills into your strength and conditioning workouts?

Are you performing box jumps during some of your athletic workouts?

Do you execute box jumps like a conditioning drill?

Are you performing box jumps in a way to maximize benefit and minimize stress on your joints?

So today I decided to get away from improper squatting, improper deadlifting, and improper kettlebell swing technique and switch over to another problem and address the improper use of the box jump exercise. Today I’m going to hit on why box jumps shouldn’t be used as a conditioning drill in your strength and conditioning program. If you’ve been using box jumps as a conditioning drill then make sure you take a minute to pump the brakes and read this article. You’ll be thanking me for it later.